Carry You Home
by Borrowed Twenties
Summary: A song for your heart, but when it is quiet, I know what that means and I'll carry you home..." One-shot. AxA.


Finally, I'm putting out a pure AxA fic, but this is going to be a sad one. I find this song really touching and all. I know the song's actual meaning is a soldier going to another comrade's mother to tell her that her daughter is dead because of the war, but I think it's free for anyone to interpret it differently. I know that there are a lot of A/A fics out there circulating with all those tragedy and deaths and everything and if I'd post one, it'll be really cliche and all. However, I do know that I really want to write this, and so here I am. Please read and review.(:

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own COTT or the song, which is called Carry Me Home by James Blunt.

**Carry You Home**

_Trouble is her only friend and he's back again.  
Makes her body older than it really is.  
She says it's high time she went away,  
No one's got much to say in this town.  
Trouble is the only way is down.  
Down, down._

He dropped down to his knees, his eyes wide with shock.

"No..."

A single breath, like a whisper, then he hung his head solemnly. The same song he had heard a lot of times came ringing in his ears. _Carry me home._ Once he had found it to be a touching song, but now it found it hauntingly true. He watched helplessly, sadness tearing away at his heart, as Atlanta lay, motionless on the ground, her eyes, too, displaying her shock and her tiredness. The long sycthe was buried deep into her chest, for too long for anyone to do anything. Cronus lay defeated a few inches away, eyes closed and finally no longer a threat, but Archie didn't care about him. He didn't care about the victory that they had just won. He cared about nothing, in fact, nothing except her.

It had been only a month since they've started dating, and they've done practically nothing. There were still sights to see, kisses to behold, quarrels to ensue... And now it was over, almost as soon as it had just begun. She had always been a magnet for trouble, he recalled bitterly, hot tears stinging his face as they flowed. Each tear hit the ground almost soundlessly, but it was almost as if the whole ground vibrated at its touch, spelling volumes, reaching into the depths of his heart and reflecting the sorrow he felt down inside. She had always been created trouble, one way or the other, but it was one of the cutest things about her that he would soon cease to see.

"Archie... Archie..."

His head snapped up. Atlanta was calling him. He immediately clambered to her side, suddenly desperate to keep her going even though he knew all his attempts would be futile.

"Yes? Yes? Atlanta? You've got to hang in there!" His eyes darted around nervously, his mind a blank. He couldn't think of what to do. "I'll... We'll bring you to Chiron! We won't let you die. _I_ won't let you die. You have to stay here. Atlanta - don't close your eyes!"

Atlanta sent him a weak smile and clutched at his hand wearily. "I don't think I can hold on much longer. I think it's my time to go. Don't... Don't _you_ think, Archie?"

Archie bowed his head. Softly, he muttered what he knew to be the truth. "Yes..."

_As strong as you were, tender you go.  
I'm watching you breathing for the last time.  
A song for your heart, but when it is quiet,  
I know what it means and I'll carry you home.  
I'll carry you home._

She had been strong... No, she _was_ strong, and she would always be. She'd always be his beloved huntress. Even when she departed.

He felt a sense of pride surge through his veins, as did more sorrow and pain. She'd leave, but at least she'd leave dignified, knowing that she had made a difference. That she had saved her friends, saved the world and saved the gods. She'd leave tenderly, to be remembered as a hero.

Yet, it was so hard to look at it in that way. How could he be thinking about her soon-to-come death in such an optimistic way? That would be so sadistic of him. He was watching her breathing, and for the last time. He had always watched her breathing - when they went skateboarding, when she was sleeping, when she was smiling, when she was quarreling with him... And yet maybe he had taken it all for granted, and now this was the only time when he'd be so privelleged to see her breathing - and for the last time. She looked so peaceful, her eyes nearly closing, as though weariness was enveloping her and threatening to steal her away, steal her away from him...

And now all he could do was wait, and when the song dies down, he would only be able to carry her home, and nothing else.

_If she had wings she would fly away,  
And another day God will give her some.  
Trouble is the only way is down.  
Down, down._

His little angel.

He gulped, his hands trembling, as he squeezed her hands. "You'll be fine, Lannie..." He nearly choked, too much pain blocking his throat. "You'll be in the Elysian Fields soon. That's where heroes go, remember? And one day, we'll all go to join you, and you'll find... You'll find me there too."

Atlanta managed a shaky smile, nodding her head. Her head lolled to one side as he saw her shoulders slump considerably. He was torn. Should he ask her to hang in there, give him more time with her, or should he just let her go like that? She was in so much pain, and it was like she was only hanging in there for him. Letting herself to be exposed to more pain and all. He felt the pain rip through his body once again, and he closed his eyes and sighed, breathing in deeply. Letting her go away peacefully would be better for her, but he would have a few seconds left for her... But...

_As strong as you were, tender you go.  
I'm watching you breathing for the last time.  
A song for your heart, but when it is quiet,  
I know what it means and I'll carry you home.  
I'll carry you home.  
And they were all born pretty in New York City tonight,  
And someone's little girl was taken from the world tonight,  
Under the Stars and Stripes.  
As strong as you were, tender you go.  
I'm watching you breathing for the last time.  
A song for your heart, but when it is quiet,  
I know what it means and I'll carry you home.  
I'll carry you home._

"Atlanta?"

Atlanta looked up, pain still in her eyes, and maybe, perhaps fear of her death. Archie almost chuckled then and there. Just like Atlanta. Already 20, yet still sometimes so much like a child - albeit an innocent child.

"I love you."

He squeezed her hand for the last time and watched her chest rise and fall for the last time.

"You can sleep now."

She smiled for the last time, looking like his sweet, little angel minus the blood-stained shirt and the black sycthe that was still in her. Then her eyes closed, and she left forever.

"Don't worry, because rest assured I _will_ carry you home, and I won't ever forget you..." Archie promised, still staring at her lifeless body, smiling gently and reassuringly, but the tears that poured down said otherwise. He knew Atlanta had already left, and his words might feel empty, but he was sure that she was still somewhere around, waiting to hear his last words.

And he let her go, to take her out of her misery and pain...

... And now all he could do now is carry her home.

--

End of fic. I knew it was pretty simple and all, I might seem like any other fic out there, but I hope you liked it.


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